Sempra supports global warming regulatory law

Election results

SACRAMENTO  The parent company of San Diego Gas & Electric has come out against a November ballot measure to suspend California’s landmark law to curb global warming.

In doing so, Sempra Energy joins some of the state’s largest power providers in opposing Proposition 23. Most prominently: Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and the Sacamento Municipal Utility District.

Sempra’s position runs counter to claims by supporters of Proposition 23 that the state’s various regulations implemented under the sweeping 2006 law known as Assembly Bill 32 will inflate energy prices and drain jobs.

“We support California’s pioneering effort to transition to a low-carbon economy and AB 32 provides the critical path for getting there,” Sempra Chairman Donald Felsinger said in a statement Tuesday. “Applied properly, AB 32 will promote clean technology, create new green jobs and reduce air pollution.”

The Proposition 23 campaign did not return a phone call seeking comment. Previously, supporters of suspending the law have argued that regulations will lead businesses to flee California rather than pay higher power bills and invest in technology to limit greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming.

“California’s current unemployment rate is undeniable proof that we can’t afford to sacrifice over a million existing jobs in hopes that green jobs will fill the gap,” Proposition 23 supporter Robert Hatch, president of the Santa Maria Chamber of Commerce, said recently.

But SDG&E doesn’t see it that way, said Stephanie ﻿Donovan, a spokesperson. “We don’t think it’s possible or prudent to go backward,” she said.

As for ratepayer impacts, Donovan said, “There will be some upfront costs to our customers, but there will likely be longer-term savings thanks to new technology and diversity of energy resources.”

Proposition 23 would suspend regulations that have been imposed under AB 32 until the unemployment rate falls below 5.5 percent for four consecutive quarters. The jobless rate is now slightly more than 12 percent.

Passed by the Legislature in 2006, AB 32 requires the state to gradually rollback greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, a roughly 25 percent cut.

The leading contributors to the campaign to pass Proposition 23 are Valero Energy Corp. and Tesoro Corp. Refineries anticipate huge costs to cut emissions — an expense they say will be reflected in higher gas prices.

Peter Zahn, chairman of the Green Chamber of San Diego County, praised Sempra’s stand.

“We need the larger institutions and industries to become more vocal and show the rest of the state there are tremendous benefits to investing in this renewable energy sector,” Zahn said. “There doesn’t have to be this conflict between the environment and jobs. That’s the rhetoric getting pushed on us by the out-of-state oil companies.”

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a statement saying “we are pleased that Sempra has joined California’s leading employers, public health advocates and renewable energy providers in saying no to Proposition 23.”